Common Cents
by I Kissed A Corpse
Summary: Uh...Can it really be possible for Kaiba to fall in love? Yes...Maybe...Not really...No... KaibaXoc
1. Pretty Cupcakes

Yay! I finally have a fanfiction up! -is happy- It's really stupid so far actually. Whatever. It shall be lame. I don't want flames okay? Okay.

xXx

She examined herself in the mirror, looking in disgust at the new banana yellow dress her uncle bought her for the upcoming dinner party she was being forced to attend. She had no choice in the matter because her uncle told her she had been invited therefore she was going to go. She detested her uncle's dinner parties more than anything just because of the fact that there were people there. He only went for his reputation, which showed no signs of deteriorating. She didn't see any point of her going, since she was rarely mentioned as his niece except when she was forced to submit her paintings in the local art show, which she always won because of her status, niece of Fabio the Fabulous, Desiree Liam. But she couldn't object because, well, he was Fabio the Fabulous.

The banana dress was, of course, yellow and the neckline was so low that if she had any cleavage, it would show a ton. It was tight around the middle, restricting her breathing and showing her belly rolls. The bottom was all about ruffles and frills. She wore matching elbow-length gloves, made from the same shiny leathery-feeling material. She felt absolutely ridiculous.

She studied herself further, then finally decided her black-tipped red hair would look better pinned up. She fixed it to the point where she felt she'd shed at any moment and then leave a trail of red behind her as she walked. Satisfied somewhat with her hair, she found an old gold necklace and slipped it on. It was a couple shades lighter than the dress, but it worked. Then she thought about make-up and began searching. She loathed make-up of any sort, but tonight was an exception. Her skin was too pale for her dress. Once, when she was ten, she tried to get everyone to sign a petition to ban make-up but after her uncle showed her pictures of celebrities without it, she immediately dropped the idea. She didn't even like owning the crap, but she couldn't help it people decided to throw away their money to buy her it and she didn't have the heart to throw it away. Desiree decided just a pinch of make-up would have to do. Not pound after pound caked-on to make her look like she was swanking herself.

Once she found a long forgotten bag of forbidden items, she went to work. She brushed gold eye shadow over her olive green eyes and slipped in gold hoop earrings. She applied a small amount of lipstick then glanced in the mirror. She shuddered. She overdid it.

"Desiree! Time to leave!"

"Shit!" She threw aside her make-up bag and grabbed her regular everyday one, which completely threw off her outfit. It was a dirty blue color and the straps were fraying badly. She shrugged and stepped into her matching high heels and stumbled down the stairs where her uncle and his date where waiting.

xXx

The limo driver pulled into the huge, half-circle driveway, carefully making sure he didn't run over anybody. Limousines were dropping other guests off, who climbed up the gray-stoned steps to the huge entrance before them. The windows were all large and clear, showing the lit rooms inside, which were empty at the moment. The house itself was huge, stretching far off in either direction and a wrought iron fence surrounded the property. Trees and bushes were evenly distributed on both sides of the drive and lights were placed in the trees to brighten up the night.

"Oh, Fabio! Is so beautiful! Lovely!'' Fabio's date exclaimed; he looked ecstatic. Desiree rolled her eyes and stumbled up the steps to the entrance. Se waited impatiently for them to catch up. She wanted to hurry and get the stupid dinner over with and change out of her stultifying dress.

She sighed in aggravation as they laughed at a whispered joke. They casually handed their tickets to the men at the doors and went inside.

The hall they came into was large and cool. Doors lined the walls and the marble floors were so well-polished that Desiree could see her reflection in them like a crystal mirror.

All the guests were herded into an even larger room with over a dozen tables. A chandelier dripping with diamonds hung from the ceiling a sent dazzling patterns of light over the room. On the far wall, thick curtains hung over huge windows and on every table, there was a white table cloth strewn with flowers and little placement cards were at every seat. Desiree shuddered. Where was she going to have to sit _this_ time?


	2. Lovely Pudding

OMG people actually like this. Wow. Okay thankies to you who review yar har har.

Disclaimer: If I owned Yu-Gi-Oh, do you think I'd be making a fanfiction?

xXx

Everyone scattered to find their places and Desirae wondered if there were actually enough seats. She searched for her name and couldn't find until she realized she was the last one standing. She quickly took the one available seat and dropped her head in embarrassment.

She heard a snicker beside her at the head of the table and quickly turned to glare at him. "Nice dress," Kaiba murmured. Her eyes narrowed and he only smirked in response.

"Nice face," she growled sarcastically.

A moment later, he stood and asked for everyone's attention, which he got because every conversation was dropped immediately and he briefly greeted them all. He said something that wasn't registered in Desirae's vocabulary and everyone laughed. She rolled her eyes and let her chin fall into the palm of her hand.

The first course was served. Desirae guessed it was a salad but it looked like it could rear up and attack at any moment so neither she nor Kaiba bothered putting it on a fork. Mokuba, who was sitting directly in front of Desirae, disdainfully shoved the... whatever it was into his mouth and shivered. Fabio and Haisho, who sat further down the table, seemed to enjoy it, though and were talking animatedly with the people around them. Desirae felt a pang of jealousy and looked down at her untouched plate. She was never an outgoing person and wasn't one to start a conversation first.

Once the dishes of that course were taken up, another replaced it and this time it looked like a cross between fish and a squid. It was smaller than the palm of her hand and she soon realized why. She held back a gag and swallowed the gritty food down. If _that _was what old rich people ate, Desirae wanted no part of it.

After a while, the fat man beside Desirae kicked up a conversation with Kaiba. It was about politics and Desirae hoped to death she wouldn't somehow slip into the conversation.

"Hey, missy." Of course. "Have you heard of that guy in Alaska who buried himself in snow then had to have his dick chopped off?" She resisted the overwhelming urge to roll her eyes.

"Oh. That one, haha." She faked a laugh.

"Well, he's my brother and I think he'd find you attractive, since you're both missing something and all." He was implying something that Desirae was _none_ too pleased about.

"I'm sorry. I only go with men who could fuck me on the first date," she lied. In fact, she never had a boyfriend, but she wasn't about to tell him or Kaiba that.

The man minded his own business after that and Desirae was content staring at her plate.

The rest of the courses were served and there was only one dish that looked even remotely safe. Desirae guessed it was a fish of some sort, but couldn't be sure. Dessert looked least appealing and refused to look at it, let alone eat it.

Once the dinner was over, everyone was gathered into another room where a stage was set up. There was a band playing music Desirae wouldn't usually listen to, but she had the sudden urge to dance anyway. Fabio and Haisho were sitting at a small table near the wall. Desirae practically skipped over to them. Fabio wasn't one to dance but Haisho absolutely loved it. He grinned when Desirae invited him to join her. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into a dance that matched the song. She tried not to feel awkward as he twirled her, but she noticed Fabio watching them.

Once she swung back to Haisho, she was sure to keep a fair distance from him so only their hands were touching one another.

There was a partner switch half-way through the song and once in the new man's arms, she met his eyes and glared. Kaiba's hands were lightly resting on her waist and his feet moved gracefully beneath them. There was a small smile playing at his lips.

"You have enough brains to memorize a dance, Kaiba?" she whispered.

"You're a girl?" She stomped on his foot and he bit his lip.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did that hurt?" They glared daggers at each other and hoped the song would end soon.

Though she would never admit it, Kaiba danced really well and she was actually a little jealous. She had taken dancing lesson when she was little but her parents took her out just before they died and she never bothered going back. She taught herself later on by watching how-to videos with Haisho and she was surprised she actually learned something.

As soon as the song ended, she shoved him away and joined her uncle watching Haisho dance.

Eventually, Haisho tired out and joined the two of them, still swaying on his feet. He and Fabio shared a drink he brought over and Desirae excused herself. Carefully trying to balance on her heels, she half-ran half-stumbled into the ladies' room. She locked herself into a stall and dug in her bag. She got out tissues and rubbed her face furiously, trying desperately to get the make-up off. It was starting to really bug her and she was about to go insane.

Ten minutes later, Desirae was had rubbed her face until it was red and the make-up was mostly gone. She was satisfied for two seconds then she zipped up her bag and left.

When she returned to the crowded room, Kaiba was in the middle of a short speech on stage, so Desirae didn't bother listening and distracted herself by picking at the straps of her bag. Fabio nudged her and she sighed. She pretended to listen, though unenthusiastically.

As soon as that speech was finished, people began talking and the band started up again. Kaiba jumped from the stage and to her horror, headed their way, of all people. She was about to stand up and leave, but Fabio glared at her.

"He's the one that invited you. Be grateful he knew you exist," he said sternly. She sighed.

Around eleven, people began to leave and by one, they had left Fabio, Desirae, and Haisho alone. Mokuba left long ago so Desirae had no one to complain to because Kaiba and her uncle plus one were still in deep conversation.

She got bored and crawled over to the stage in curiosity and poked around. The band left their equipment behind to pick it up later in the morning, so Desirae had her chance to examine it all. She spotted the microphone and picked it up. She wondered if she should turn it on or not since it wasn't hers but realized her uncle could pay for and flipped the switch.

If there could be a sound worse than a screeching cat dropped into a rusty clothes drier, it was that one. She dropped the microphone without bothering to turn it off and hopped off the stage.

"Desirae! Turn it off!" Her uncle shouted. She ignored him and ran outside. She stopped as soon as she was out the door and glanced around. The lights in the trees were turned off, making it difficult to actually see, so she had to carefully make her way down the steps. Her caution was quickly rewarded, but not in the way she expected. The heel of her shoe jammed itself in a crack in the pavement and sent her tumbling to the ground. She lay still, deciding not to move.

At first, she didn't feel it, but then it throbbed, then it became annoying, then aching, then unbearable. She felt her arm carefully and winced. It was hurting and something wet and warm puddled around it. She moaned as she used that arm to heave herself off the ground and hobbled to the road. The streetlights made it easier to see and she examined the cut. It wasn't that deep and she decided she must've slashed it open on a sharp rock when she fell. Desirae ripped off a couple ruffles from her dress and wrapped her arm up.

She walked all the way home.


	3. Carrot Cake

Lurlz. I got a homepage...and I know hat's gonna happen later! OMG! There's gonna be _zombies_!!! And Kaiba's out of character at the end. Actually the end's just weird. And I was cut by a Skittle a couple weeks ago (i probably could have said that at the last chapter)

xXx

The next morning, she was exhausted and could barely keep her eyes open for five seconds. She couldn't get to sleep for reasons unknown, no matter how many times she walked around the house. She was sure the long walk home would tire her out, but that wasn't the case. Fabio noticed her mood immediately.

"Didn't you go to sleep?"

"No," she said, shaking her head absentmindedly for five seconds while trying to get orange juice down her throat.

"Why not?" Fabio asked, digging in the cabinet. He pulled out a glass and filled it up with ice. As he walked by her, he slipped an ice cube down Desirae's shirt. She screeched, hopped out of her chair, and wiggled until the three dimensional block of frozen water fell to the floor then she immediately stomped her foot on it and crushed it into a billion pieces.

"Why did you _do_ that?" she asked, shivering. He ignored her and went into the other room. She growled.

She went up to her bedroom and searched her dresser drawers for her money then went back down into the living room. She told Fabio she was going out and when he said he didn't care, she left.

There were a lot of people on the streets, even though it looked like it was about to rain hard, and Desirae had to push and shove her way through waves of human beings. Some old guy wearing a pink T-shirt and yellow pants accidentally stepped on her foot and a brunette with scary blue eyes bumped into her while holding scalding hot coffee, wetting her front of her shirt and burning her chest until she could barely keep from screaming.

Desirae went into a clothing store and quickly picked out a shirt. It was red and had a black dragon crawling up the side. She got it from the men's section but didn't care because she liked it and ended up buying it. She changed out of her wet shirt and tugged on her new one then resumed her walk. She figured she'd go to the book store to buy a couple books or maybe a mint then she'd go video game shopping.

The book store was owned by Alicia, her brother's wife, and she had a wide selection of books. Desirae went there every so often after she finished her previous books and chose out a few new ones. She had a small library started and was thinking about sending it off to charity or something.

When she stepped inside the bookstore, she smelled vanilla scented candles and moldy pizza. There was a fat guy at the counter eating a bag of potato chips and he wiped his hands in his already greasy shirt when she walked in. She went to the aisle furthest from him, trying to avoid an unnecessary conversation and browsed through the shelves. She found one then went straight to the counter. The man rung it up and Desirae paid. She took the book and shuddered when she felt the oil on the cover.

She headed to the video game store next and when she walked in, the bells above the door chimed. A few people glanced at her then went back to what they were doing.

Desirae looked for a violent video game that was in her price range. As she turned around to go back to something that caught her eye, she collided with someone's back. She stumbled and nearly fell into the racks, but he caught her arm and pulled her up. She was about to thank him, but then she saw who it was.

"What're _you_ doing here?"

"Buying Mokuba something for his birthday. Does it matter?"

"No. I just thought the royal majesty would go somewhere more expensive. Like the internet."

Kaiba sighed. "Do you really think of me like that? I'm just as human as you."

"Humans don't have an infinite supply of money."

"You forget your uncle-,"

"My uncle doesn't toss it out the window and he certainly doesn't me any. Besides, I know he's not human. He's scary." She picked up a game. The cover looked blood stained. "We aren't billionaires like you. In fact, I would be much happier being average. You can't buy happiness, Kaiba." She put the game back and discontinued looking.

"If I could buy happiness, I wouldn't be as I am," he sighed. She looked up at him, suddenly feeling a little short.

"What would you buy, then, if it was possible?" They looked at each other curiously.

"A man can't stay lonely his whole life."

"Love?" she asked. He nodded very slightly. "Well, I hope you find someone." She turned and headed for the exit. With a glance over her shoulder, she caught his eye and she sped up her walk.

xXx

Desirae was sitting quietly on a bench in the park, reading her recently bought book. She ignored the half-dozen little kids running around her like their hair was on fire and tried not to dwell on the fact she was being stared at.

He was a scrawny bald man leaning against the tree nearest to her, which was about five yards away. She knew she'd have to deal with him later. He seemed like one of those guys who would follow her home, then wait when she was in a dark alley to pounce her and do bad things. She would rather keep her virginity to somebody who actually loved her than to a lustful, pig-nosed, big-browed fifty-year-old who stared at her from a tree.

Eventually, the darkened sky up above let its swelled clouds release what they had gathered and it began sprinkling (lol). Once the first drop hit her, she put away her book.

The little kids were long gone, the man remained. Desirae quickly left the park and, just as expected, the man followed a few yards behind her. She sped up, slowly as to not arouse suspicion. Though he probably already knew she knew because he had twenty girls down in his list.

She was closed inside a crowd once she rounded a corner and immediately took that opportunity to slip inside the door next to her. It was a deli and people looked at her strangely when she went into a corner by the windows and peered outside.

The man walked by slowly, carefully searching. He stared into the window and Desirae concealed herself deep in the confines of the deli's corner, as safe as she could possibly be in this city.

He opened the door and she gradually pulled the trash can that was conviently place in the same corner in front of her to hide herself.

His shoes squeaked against the polished floor as he walked to the counter, still looking. Desirae cursed under her breath. He began talking to the cashier.

Then a man and his son happened to throw away their trash at that moment and the little boy noticed her.

"What is you doing behind a trash can?" he asked innocently. Desirae's eyes widened and she glanced at her stalker. He was looking right at her.

"Dammit!" She stood up and ran out the door. The father yelled something after her but she couldn't hear him over the pounding of her heart.

She heard a second pair of footsteps running behind her and she ran faster. People looked at her weirdly as she ran by and the ones she shoved out of her way yelled bad things. She almost tripped once, but caught herself before she fell in the path of a taxi and continued running

After running over a mile, her lungs couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't bear to walk even another foot but the closest thing to her was an alley, and that was something she was afraid of at the moment. Her body coaxed her and she sat down near the wall. She gasped for breath. dropping her bag beside her. She felt the rain drip on her and tried to calm her raging heart.

The bald man ran past her hiding place that wasn't really hiding her and she let out a sigh of relief. She vowed she would never run again.

When she felt a bit better, she picked up her bag and stood. Before she could get anywhere, though, a wet hand covered her mouth and she was pulled back.

She didn't try to escape; she was too tired. She allowed him to slam her against the wall. She glared. He was breathing harder than she was and she could hear him wheeze just a little.

"Stupid little..." He wiped his mouth on his sleeve and came towards her. she made a move to run off to the street, but two more men appeared from opposite directions and had her surrounded.

"What?" she asked, trying to tell herself everything was going to be okay and she was just having a nightmare. Maybe death wouldn't be so bad in her dreams. Though this felt a little too much like reality to be a dream.

The first man had her against the wall and she tried to make a cry for help but his lips were smothering hers. She struggled violently but with no success and the other men decided to join them. One ripped her brand now shirt and she wondered if she should have bought it. Maybe the coffee stain would have repelled men like this.

But what if they liked coffee?

In moments, Desirae could feel rain falling on almost her whole body and she was shivering.

The men seemed to enjoy that, but before anything else could be taken off, they were suddenly thrown off and receiving punches. Desirae pulled her knees to her chest and let her head rest on them. She didn't want to watch.

The bald man's front teeth were knocked from his mouth and blood covered the ground. The three men fled with broken noses, black eyes, bruises, and sterile body parts. Kaiba looked down at Desirae, who was shaking with tears.

She lifted her head weakly. "You came?" she asked, her voice shaking. He got on his knees beside her. She had bruises along her arms and the cut from the other night was bleeding again.

He nodded and she threw her arms around his neck, her tears not doing much to his already soaked clothes except make them salty. He slid his arms around her waist.

"You're fine, Desirae," he whispered.

xXx

See. I told you.


	4. Frayed Teeth

Yar.

xXx

"Desirae! Are you okay, honey?" Haisho asked as soon as she walked through the front door. She gave him a weak smile and nodded.

"I am now."

Kaiba came in after her, looking a little frustrated. Thanks to his generosity, Desirae had new clothes and a new bag. Actually, it wasn't his generosity. He forced her to get some new clothes because he wasn't going to have her walk around half naked with him standing right beside her.

"Oooooh, thank you Mr. Kaiba, sir! I don't' know what we'd do without you!!!! Fabio's not here at the moment, though. He had something to take care of, but he sends his thanks. Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!!!!" Haisho continued thanking him as Desirae headed into the kitchen. The maid was there, wiping counters and Desirae pulled out a chair from the dining table and sat down. She dropped her head on the table, making a hollow thunk.

"Desirae! What happened?" the happy, bouncy little maid asked, hopping over to her. "You look miserable."

"An alien canine came down from the stars and ripped my head off then I became its queen."

"Oh, my. Did it hurt?"

"...yes." Desirae honestly couldn't tell if she was joking or not.

Kaiba came in then, sending the maid into a brief state of shock. She smiled and hurried out of the room.

"...were you following me, too?" she asked, her voice muffled by the table.

"No." He said that a little too quickly.

"How'd you know?

"By...chance."

"Well," she sighed. "Whether it was by chance or not, I thank you."

"Again?"

"Yes."

She turned to him and saw him gazing out of the window above the sink.

"Stalker," she said under her breath. He looked at her.

"Idiot."

"Peasant."

"You're the peasant."

"Minion."

"Slut."

"Man-whore."

"Man."

"Lady."

"Fat."

"Skinny."

This went on for several hours. I not quite sure there are even that many words, but somehow they managed.

"...Tart."

"Fruit."

".....Soccer."

"Waffle."

"Okay. I give up. I'm a waffle." Kaiba threw his hands in the air in defeat. Desirae smirked.

"So you admit you're a stalker?"

"...yes, although I am not."

"Yar har har. Hey, do you want anything? A drink?" Desirae pushed herself up and went to the cabinet.

"Water."

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. Why do you think I decided to put this here?**

"That's boring." She got out two glasses and filled them both with water. She handed one to Kaiba and he took it. In one sip, half the glass was gone (he eats glass?). She stared at him.

"What?" She shook her head and sat back down.

_Men are a strange species..._ she thought.

They sat quietly for a few minutes before either of them did anything and when one did, it was Kaiba mumbling something under his breath. Desirae looked at him curiously. He caught her look and sighed.

"Desirae-,"

"Desirae! Are you okay? Did they do anything to you? Are you whole? You're still a virgin, aren't you?" Fabio made his magnificent entrance and grabbed her up in a hug. She looked at him in shock.

"Have you been drinking again?"

"Thank you, Mr. Kaiba." Fabio looked like he was about to pull him into a hug, too, but thought better of it and settled for a handshake instead.

"Don't mention it," Kaiba said quietly. Desirae smirked and put their glasses in the sink, then she headed for the stairs. Kaiba followed her quickly.

She shut the door behind her and locked it. Kaiba sighed and knocked quietly.

"Yes? Who is it?" Desirae called.

"You know who it is."

"Who's that?" Kaiba knocked again. "Hello?"

"Hello."

"Oh, hi."

"Open the door."

"Are you a rapist?"

"Yes."

"Oh, okay." He heard the door click and it swung open. She was standing there, grinning stupidly, with her arms spread apart. "Rape me." She was apparently expecting something. He rolled is eyes and came in. She shut the door again and went back to her desk. There was a blank sheet of paper in the center and a pencil was still in its sharpener when she picked it up. Kaiba watched her and when it become obvious she wasn't going to say anything anytime soon, he sat on her bed.

The only sounds for about an hour were the pencil scraping across that paper and the occasional rubbing eraser.

Eventually, Kaiba snapped.

"How do you work like this? It's too quiet!"

Desirae jumped and looked at him wide-eyed. "I'm sorry! I forgot you were here, Your Majesty!" He sighed. He dropped flat on the bed and stared up at the ceiling.

"Desirae?"

"Ah?" She was leaning over her sheet of paper again.

"Will you go out with me?"


	5. Puddle of Sword

Lol even my oc was out of character last chapter. I was rushing it because I had to get off the computer and I wanted to finish it. And near the end of this chapter I started getting writer's block so I had to do something and Desirae and Kaiba aren't going to stay together for long.

Disclaimer: I own no one but Fabio, Haisho, Terrance, and Desirae... and the maids (ew). I don't even own Erika or anyone that's not in the show.

xXx

"Hey, Yugi," the brown eyed blond pulled him in for a hug, avoiding the spiky tufts of hair that could poke out his eye.

"Um...hey? What's wrong with you today?" Yugi asked as soon as he was back on the ground again.

"Hehe. Guess, c'mon. I dare ya."

"I don't know, Joey. It could be anything." Yugi headed for his grandfather's card shop, raising an eyebrow as Joey somehow found a way to stumble over every crack in the sidewalk. "Really. What's wrong with you today? Who gave you the crack?" Joey looked at him weird then continued urging him on. Yugi sighed. "I don't know, Joey."

"You didn't even try! I can't believe you don't know what it is. The whole city's talking about it."

"If the whole city was talking about it, wouldn't I have known?"

"I didn't mean it literally. Well, anyways-,"

"Yugi! Joey!"

They glanced over at the direction of the voice and saw a girl with short black hair, shorter than Joey's, wearing a baggy sweatshirt and tight jeans.

"Erika."

She reached them exhausted, but smiling.

"Have you guys heard?"

xXx

Fabio was sipping coffee while reading the newspaper. Desirae sat across the table from him, not saying anything. She didn't even bother picking at her toast as she usually did every morning. Fabio was a little annoyed at her for a particular reason concerning herself and Seto Kaiba.

He wouldn't tell her what. She didn't think she did anything wrong.

It was quiet for an abnormally long amount of time but finally Desirae gave up and looked at her uncle.

"What? What did I do wrong?" she asked, almost demandingly. Her uncle looked at her without moving his head, raising an eyebrow.

"You know."

She sighed. Did he not want her to have a boyfriend?

"I have to have your permission, Fabio? Isn't it kind of my choice? It's not like you have to endure it, so why are you so concerned about it?"

"It's _Seto Kaiba_, in case you haven't noticed. You _hate_ him. You told me. Repeatedly."

"He saved me and I want to give him something in return, so I am. Just be glad I plan to remain a virgin until I've been married for about three years."

Fabio raised an eyebrow. "Is that a promise or something you are going to change your mind about later on?"

"It's a promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, dearest." Desirae was about to reply but Haisho bounced in babbling things so rapidly he couldn't even understand it. Fabio kicked him and he fell to the floor.

"Ow." He got back up again and began whispering to Fabio. Desirae looked down at her toast and examined it. There seemed to be a slight bit of green on the corner and she wrinkled her nose.

"Desirae?"

"Yes, dear uncle Fabio?"

"He's coming."

"What? Why?"

"Why don't you ask Mr. Happy Pants over there?"

Desirae looked over at Haisho, who looked very pleased with himself. She glared.

"What did you do?"

He gave her an innocent smile and left the room. She sighed and went after him. She wasn't going to walk around in her pajamas all day.

When she was dressed and done fussing over her dead hair, she went downstairs and saw him talking to Fabio on the couch.

As soon as he saw her, Kaiba smiled ever so slightly. She faked a smile, unsure of what to do next. Besides Fabio and people on TV, Desirae had never seen two people in a relationship. She had been home schooled and didn't get to go out much. She begged Fabio for years to let her go to a public school, but he refused every time and this was how she turned out.

Fabio made up an excuse to leave and left them alone.

"Haisho called...and asked me over."

"Don't you have work?"

"I can pass for a day."

Desirae looked at him awkwardly. "This isn't your first relationship, is it?"

"Actually, it is."

"Oh." She sat down beside him. "It's mine, too. I wasn't planning on it just yet, but..." He didn't say anything but she might have seen his hand twitch. His expression was blank and he was staring at the blank TV hanging from a blank wall. Her hand reached over and covered his lightly.

There was an awkward five minute moment.

Then Haisho jumped in. "AW look at the happy peoples sitting together on the couch! AW! Dey is holding hands! AW! Dey is gonna make baybehs!"

"Haisho!" Desirae leaped at him and missed because Haisho ran to the other side of the room. She chased after him threatening to kill him with a lamp if he didn't leave.

"Hey, you little idiot! Why don't you go bug someone? Like Fabio."

Haisho stopped and Desirae slammed into him. "Ow..." He grinned and fled the room. She cursed under her breath while rubbing her head and sat back down. Kaiba's hand slithered over hers and she blushed.

If anybody else had been there, they would have thought there were two odd-looking statues on the couch but there wasn't so the two odd-looking statues on the couch were fine for the moment.

Kaiba's hand gently squeezed hers and he pulled the both of them up.

"Do you want to go for a walk?"

She nodded briefly and they slipped outside. It was cloudy at the moment, but it didn't look like it was going to rain.

People gave them weird looks as they walked by and a couple girls (and guys) gave Desirae death-glares. She ignored them.

Without warning, Kaiba stopped. She looked at him, then at the man he was glaring at. They were glaring.

The man was a blond with brown eyes. Behind him were two girls, one a blond and the other with short black hair. Yugi Motou and Tristan were behind the girls.

"Joey," Kaiba said simply. Joey glared silently then looked over at Desirae.

"Couldn't you have done a little better than _him_?" he asked. She bit her lip, resisting the urge to say something. Kaiba nudged her to the side and they continued down the sidewalk, avoiding the little group's eye contact.

"Who was that?" she asked.

"Just ignore him. He's nothing special."

"But who was he? Do you know the others?"

"I know all of them except the blond girl. I've never seen her before. As for the guy, he's Joey Wheeler. I'm pretty sure you know who Yugi was." Se nodded and he continued naming names until he named them all off and then looked at her.

"Should I be concerned?" she asked. He shook his head and his hand tightened around as she wondered what could have happened for them to hate each other like that, but nothing came to mind. The more she though about it, the more she knew she didn't have a reason for hating Kaiba the way she did or why she decided to go out with him in the first place.

xXx A week later xXx

...

...

...

The other side of the phone was dead quiet. At first, she thought he might have died or passed out, but then she heard him heave a heavy sigh.

"Why would you do something like that, Desirae?"

She went silent, just as long as he had. She was about to answer, but then he sighed again.

"Do you know what's going to happen now? You're going to be noticed and not in the good way. People are going to start false rumors and no matter what you say, they aren't going to believe you."

"But Terrance..."

"Why would you bother? You hate him, Desirae! Everyone knows that, except for him."

"He's not so bad after a while."

"Whatever." Her brother hung up and she threw the phone against the wall.

Then she noticed the pretty brown paper lying on the floor and grinned. She picked it up and ran downstairs. She immediately changed her mind about talking to Fabio and Haisho, who were on the couch together half-naked. She found a maid on break and ran up to her with the brown paper taped to her arm.

"Hi. I'm a cockroach."

The maid raised and eyebrow and continued snapping her gum.

"You gonna exterminate me?"

Snap chew. Chew chew chew snap. Chew.

"You're dull." She walked away and had the urge to scream out of total boredom. It was utterly boring and she wasn't allowed to go outside because it was raining heavily.

She went back up to her room and stared out of the window while ripping off the paper. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something dark moving against the green. She glanced over but didn't see anything but grass and dead flowers.

She looked over at the tree nearest to her window and saw something crawling up the tree. It was much too big to be a squirrel. She opened the window and peered out.

"What...is _that_?"


	6. Purple Shoe

Omg I'm so good at making boring things...I've had a very bad writer's block. It stole my cookies. And I got lazy and had no interest to write in a while but I only picked my pencil cuz of you peoples who like this (I don't like zombies T.T)

Disclaimer: Bad man fall down go boom.

xXx

The weird thingy of doom clinging to the tree rotated its head until it was staring directly at her with empty dark scary sockets. Desirae immediately slammed the window shut and backed away, her eyes never leaving the thing on the tree.

Then she blinked and it was gone. She sighed quietly and closed the curtains. She agreed with herself about going to a mental hospital and went downstairs, deciding to hide behind the couch that Haisho and Fabio were occupying. They looked down at her with an eyebrow raised.

"What's wrong, Desirae?" Haisho asked. She stared at him. "Desirae?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you but...there was a thing outside."

"Desirae, that's very vague. You know how Haisho is."

"It was on the tree."

"It was a squirrel," Fabio grumbled.

"It was bigger than a squirrel and it had no eyes."

"Fat, blind squirrel."

"And no tail."

"Clumsy fat, blind squirrel."

"...but-,"

"Desirae, go do something." Fabio and Haisho went back to what they were doing before and she gave up. She slipped on her coat. "Don't fall in the mud."

She headed into the city, searching for the very huge Kaiba Corp. building which didn't need to be searched for because it was so very obvious where it was. Once she got inside, the receptionist sighed and told her to hurry up before she had to mop again. Desirae quickly got into the elevator. Then she noticed something quite disturbing to her ears and shuddered. The evil elevator music of doom was louder than normal. She pressed the button for the top floor and waited in absolute horror as it seemed to move very slowly.

The doors slid open and Kaiba looked down at her, raising an eyebrow.

"What are you doing?"

"Dying..." Kaiba went to the corner she was clutching her head in and helped pull her against gravity. She pressed the thing for the bottom floor, making Desirae's life the absolute worst in existence. "Kaibers..." He gave her strange look. "There was a thing on my tree."

"It was bark."

"...curse those things that are of nature. No, it was moving and it had no eyes..."

"Squirrel."

"You don't believe me either?"

"No... What, you aren't joking?"

"It wasn't a squirrel. I saw it and it was ew." She sighed and he stared blankly at the shiny metal elevator doors. Desirae gave up and waited patiently (sort of) for the little ride to end. Just before they reached the first floor, Kaiba told her something about having to go to a meeting of some sort and as soon as the doors opened, he stepped out and headed for the exit. Desirae grabbed his hand and hugged him briefly. He made a Kaiba smile and gently hugged her back. Mokuba and the receptionist lady watched curiously.

Kaiba released her and made for the exit. Desirae sighed and looked to her little audience.

"Hello." Desirae waved and Mokuba mugged her. No, he just waved back.

"C'mon, Dessie." He took her hand and they both went right back into the elevator.

Mokuba dragged her into a room on the top floor beside Kaiba's room. Inside, the walls were completely covered in drawings that Mokuba did of pretty stick peoples. You couldn't even see the color of the paint on the walls.

He motioned for her to sit down as he was sitting down and she did so. He got out paper and crayons for the both of them and they began to scribble.

All afternoon, they put colored wax on flat, flimsy wood. They only realized what time it was when their stomachs growled. They looked at each other and grinned

"It is really six already?" Mokuba nodded and dragged her into the elevator AGAIN and went to the floor where the lounge was. He bought them candy bars and when they finished, they started for the door but before they could touch the handle, the door opened and Kaiba stood there.

"Um...hey?"

Mokuba laughed evilly and hurried out of the room.

"Tardbucket!" Desirae called after him. She looked at Kaiba and he made another Kaiba smile (Omg a kitty just died). They went into the freaking elevator for the fourth time that day (actually it was just her. Who knows how times he goes in there) and they went to Kaiba's office. He sat down at his desk and Desirae was pulled into his lap.

"Why, hello." Desirae felt his arms pull her closer ever so slightly.

"Could you please not call me Kaiba anymore?"

"Does it bother you?"

"Yes."

"Okay, Kaiba." She turned to look at his facial expression and immediately turned back.

"And another thing-,"

Then to the aggravation of the struggling writer, there was a knock at the door and Kaiba rolled his eyes. "Typical," he growled under his breath. He invited the person in.

It was a bald, bulky old man in uniform with expensive-looking sunglasses sliding off his nose.

"Mr. Kaiba, Fabio Liam (I can't seem to remember if I had ever mentioned his last name...) is here for Desirae."

"She'll be down shortly."

The bulky guy stood there all still and scary-like until Kaiba waved him away.

Desirae got off him and helped him up. He pulled her into his arms and gently pressed his lips to her forehead. Her cheeks warmed.

Once on the first floor for the thousandth time that day, Desirae went outside into the rain and slid into the limo.

"Did you have fun, dearest Desirae?"

"Sure."

"Even when you had to spend time with _him_?"

"I told you, I don't hate him anymore. And he was gone most of the day anyway."

Fabio went quiet for the rest of the ride and Desirae admired the scenery moving past her window. Her mind drifted off the thoughts of candy canes and lollipops when there was a thud on her door.

"Wtf was that?" Fabio asked. She shrugged and looked out. A stream of curses escaped her mouth and she backed away from the door. "It's that blind squirrel, dearest uncle."

As usual, the half-decayed hand threw itself on the window just as she finished what she said.

"Agh...I came too late."

"What are you talking about? Do you know what's going on?"

"You really don't watch the news, do you?" he sighed and Desirae found it hard to breathe as the zombie hand thingy clawed at the window.

"What, you aren't scared half to death?"

"I really don't know how to explain this to you. I'll try anyway. Someone was working on a project that went horribly wrong and now there are about fifty of these things roaming around. Don't worry; the only thing they're useful for is getting into trash."

"...wtf."

"Don't worry, Desirae..." Fabio seemed like he was keeping something from her, but she brushed it aside and stared back out the window, examining the dripping hand.


End file.
